Former CSUN AD Bob Hiegert Announces Retirement as CCAA Commissioner

Dick McGeary (Left), Vice President & General Manager of KGIL sealing the agreement to broadcast the 1989 and 1990 CSUN Football schedules with Former CSUN Athletic Director Bob Hiegert. Photo by Jonathan Whittaker

Jul 30, 2012

Reposted from CCAA Release

Walnut Creek, Calif. —

California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Commissioner
Robert J. Hiegert announced today that he will retire as
commissioner following a 15-year tenure with the conference.

Hiegert's retirement ends a 50-year association with the CCAA
that began as a student-athlete, continued as an assistant coach,
head coach and director of athletics before being named the
conference's first full-time commissioner in 1998.

"I am extremely indebted to the CCAA for the opportunity it has
given me as student-athlete, coach, director of athletics, and
finally as commissioner," Hiegert said. "It has been a tremendous
journey and along the way I have had the extreme fortune of
experiencing every aspect of intercollegiate athletics, and for
that, I am extremely grateful.

"I am proud of the successes the CCAA and its membership have
had across the board and the ability of the institutions to work
collaboratively for the betterment of the conference, stay positive
and move ahead as the landscape of intercollegiate athletics has
changed," Hiegert added.

Upon taking over as commissioner on a permanent basis on May 23,
1998, Hiegert immediately oversaw the expansion of the CCAA, which
consisted of seven southern California institutions, to a 12-member
league following the merger of five Northern California Athletic
Conference institutions.

Hiegert also opened the conference's first fully operational
administrative office to serve the membership, synchronized and
enhanced the conference governance and parliamentary procedure,
expanded and enhanced conference championship offerings, oversaw
the successful classification of the CCAA as a non-profit
corporation, secured several corporate sponsors, including Apple
and Hilton, spearheaded and oversaw the creation of a strategic
plan aimed at further developing the CCAA as a strong
intercollegiate athletic conference, served as President of the
NCAA Division II Conference Commissioners Association (2004-06),
played a key role in the establishment of the Disney Division II
West Coast Tipoff Classic basketball tournament as well as the
reinstatement of the CCAA Men's and Women's Basketball Championship
Tournaments.

Under Hiegert's leadership, CCAA teams won 24 NCAA Division II
national championships, including six since 2008.

"Bob (Hiegert) has been an excellent leader for the CCAA over
the past 15 years," Dr. Rollin C. Richmond, Humboldt State
University President and chair of the CCAA's
Presidents/Chancellor's Group, said. "He was a very
knowledgeable commissioner, but more importantly cares about the
people who are the student-athletes.

Over the past 15 years, Bob has been a valued member of the
CCAA."

"Bob has dedicated his entire career to the CCAA, first as a
student-athlete, then coach, administrator and finally
Commissioner," Chico State Director of Athletics and 2011-12 CCAA
President Anita Barker said. "Bob's vision led the CCAA to
its place today as the top Division II conference in the country.
Commitment to the student-athlete experience has been the guiding
force behind his leadership.

"As Bob moves to his next life adventure, he will be missed.
We thank him for his wisdom, passion and complete dedication
to the CCAA," Barker added.

Hiegert's association with the CCAA began in 1959 at Cal State
Northridge, formerly known as San Fernando Valley State College
(SFVSC), where he was a four-year starter in baseball and was named
the Matadors' Athlete of the Year in 1963. A 1964 SFVSC graduate
with a bachelor's degree in physical education, Hiegert completed
his master's degree in 1966.

Following a stint in the Los Angeles Angels' organization,
Hiegert returned to Cal State Northridge in 1965 and, in 18 seasons
as the school's head baseball coach, led the Matadors to a
609-411-9 record (.596), two NCAA Division II Championships (1970,
1984), five regional titles, 11 postseason berths and six CCAA
crowns. He was inducted into the American Baseball Coaches
Association (ABCA) Hall of Fame in 1989 and the Cal State
Northridge Hall of Fame in 1999.

Initially named Cal State Northridge Men's Athletic Director in
1978, Hiegert held the post until assuming the Director of
Athletics post for both departments (men and women) from 1988-95
before serving as an associate professor of kinesiology at the
University from 1995-98. He also administered the transition of the
athletics department from Division II to Division I status.

During Hiegert's tenure as director of athletics, Cal State
Northridge won 25 Division II national championships and 49
conference titles between 1978 and 1990. Within its first five
years at the Division I level, CSUN's men's volleyball team (1993)
and softball team (1994) played for national championships.

"I have known Bob Hiegert for several decades," former longtime
Cal State Bakersfield Director of Athletics Rudy Carvajal said.
"There are several characteristics that set him at the highest
level of our profession. He really, really understands
intercollegiate athletics. He gets it, from every
perspective. He is a visionary of our time and able to
translate that vision in a constructive form to enable those under
his leadership to excel.

"He has been able to accomplish more with fewer resources than
anyone I know," Carvajal continued. "With Bob's retirement, the
CCAA is losing not only a great leader (arguably one of the best in
the country) but also a person that has advanced the Mission
of the CCAA with great integrity and excellence. Simply put,
he is the best!"

"Bob has been a mentor for me as I moved into the position of
conference commissioner of the Northern Sun Conference," Butch
Raymond, President of the Division II Conference Commissioners'
Association and Commissioner of the Northern Sun Conference, said.
"When I came to the DII Conference Commissioners Association, Bob
was very helpful to me as a listening board. He is very
honest and has tremendous integrity and is a straight
shooter. He will tell you the truth even though sometimes you
don't want to hear it," Raymond added.